Directed By Wim Wenders

Starring – Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano

The Plot – Hirayama (Yakusho) works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He seems content with his simple life. He follows a structured everyday life and dedicates his free time to his passion for music and books. Hirayama also has a fondness for trees and photographs them. More of his past is gradually revealed through a series of unexpected encounters.

Rated PG for some adult language, partial nudity and smoking.

PERFECT DAYS – Official Trailer (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Results will obviously vary with this film, just as they do with any unconventional structure that doesn’t follow a typically telegraphed narrative, but I personally found a unique connection to “Perfect Days”, and not just because of my two years as a janitorial worker, but rather the meaning in message that Wenders stitches to a story that could easily be mistook as simplistic. That irony could come from the redundancies of routine, to which the movie uses every minute of its two hour run time to vividly depict, or it could come from simplicity of its character outline, with minimal dialogue or backstory given to Hirayama, and instead letting his actions be the loudest translator. Each of these could be detrimental to the typical viewer, but I found them endearingly engrossing, with Wenders’ palpable message seemingly inscribing an urgency of appreciation for the beauty and happiness that comes from a life where it’s not so often easy to find, with little things like a particular song or the sun shining over a town serving as the motivation to wanting to get up and do it all over again everyday. Wenders as a director is someone with subdued confidence in the way he capably tells a story, with actions and reactions of a character conveying a louder reality psychologically than words ever could, and because of such forces the audience to hang on to every meaningful interaction or facial registry from Yakusho, as they serve as our biggest opportunity at a glance inside of such a compelling protagonist. Part of what makes Hirayama work for me is easily the meticulous approach that Yakusho gives to the character, with childlike innocence and unrestrained selflessness that often feels like the glue to a society that feels like it could crumble at any given second, but so much more intrigue is paid to the character’s life of loneliness away from public eyes, where a claustrophobic apartment with little amenities begs the question how and why is a man so likeable in demeanor deduced to a life of isolation away from public eyes, and I believe it’s in that opportunistic depiction where Wenders finds his most lucid observations, outlining the routines and responses in ways that are not only easily relatable, regardless of career elective, but also meaningful in the way they piece together Hirayama’s underlining wants and needs, which gives the film a penchant for poignancy in ways that remains persistent without feeling like a wet blanket to the engagement. Wenders also articulates Hirayama’s perspective with meaningful documented imagery and one impressive soundtrack, adorning the likes of Lou Reed, Van Morrison, and Otis Redding, to name a few, all to convey internally what Hirayama is feeling, at any given moment. Sure, the lyrics of the songs used during distinct selections are a bit on-the-nose, but they never the less trigger an emotional resonance that can be felt long after that scene concludes, primarily a single shot facial registry of a final shot that evokes triumph for so many appeasing reasons. On the former, Cinematographer Franz Lustig casts a handheld gentle glow over scenic splendor, between moments in real time that permeate a spellbinding seduction to Hirayama’s attention, but also dream sequences that frequently arrive in the dead of night, with colorless transitions and scattered serving as the attainment of imagery from every day that permanently plunges to his subconscious, creating a lasting impact that he attempts to exploit in photographs, but rarely with the same level of appeal. Because imagery plays such a vital importance to our protagonist, it plays an even greater reality to the interpretation, using something that is often taken for granted in a typical movie, while appraising it with the consciousness of a man lost in the allure. Cap it all off with a 4:3 aspect ratio, to further condense Hirayama within his claustrophobic confines, and you have an immersive element to the filmmaking that constantly puts us into the perspective of its character in focus, remaining faithfully by his side when other supporting characters frequently come and go. Speaking of Hirayama, I love how the script limitted his vocal deliveries and interactions with characters, saving them for the moments when they capably matter most. This is realized particularly during a second act scene inside of a restaurant, where with the arrival of a female manager, his demeanor and vocal deposits change completely, hinting at some underlining feelings for her, in ways that I couldn’t help but gush over. This is where Yakusho works overtime, because the emotional evolutions of the character could easily get away from a lesser actor, causing chaos to the magnetism and nuances that made him compelling in the first place, but Yakusho brandishes a lived-in brand of reality to the character that subdues scenes of overwhelming joy, allowing the familiarities of the character to remain permanent throughout, despite so many of life’s spontaneous conflicts arriving unceremoniously to spoil his life of solitude. Finally and perhaps most surprisingly, the film does remain a constant drama, but with these pocketed moments of comedic levity that served the characters and the randomness of the structure accordingly. Particularly, I found the observational humor among the community of the setting to be most insightful of Hirayama’s custodial plight, especially when undefined extras intrude on his work, leading to these momentary instances of hilarious audacity that really help to put things and Hirayama’s unbreakable spirit into motion.

NEGATIVES

While nothing terribly traumatic to my finished grade on “Perfect Days”, I found this film unavaoidably plagued by feeling the weight of its wear inside of a two hour run time. This is obviously an aspect of the dramatically subdued and repetitious nature of depicting routine for the mind-numbing onslaught that it always should be, but it doesn’t make the test of patience on the audience any less difficult, especially during a third act where the disposable scenes start to stack. To be fair, I don’t believe there is any one scene or reveal that I would cut from the proceedings, as I feel it’s all contextually important to the extent of the journey, I just wish the editing grew to be a little tighter with the parallels of routine towards every following morning, which by the seventh day has been documented more than enough to remain a constant in our memories. This leads to my other issue within the film, as the second half unloads a bunch of unique characters and directions that could change Hirayama’s direction, but very few of them are ever resolved or expoited into anything meaningful for their inclusion, leading to a bit of an underwhelming finale that seems to just run out of time, instead of lead to anything full circle for the character. It won’t be an issue for everyone, but for me personally, I wish that a certain love angle would’ve materialized into something concrete in contrast to the rest of the film, especially since Hirayama was a character who I invested in so effortlessly with respect and admiration for making lemonade out of the garbage that the world constantly hurls his way.

OVERALL
“Perfect Days” is a soulful meditation on the monotony of life’s everyday routines, with one man’s commitment to craft serving as the manifestation of realities that serves as the culminations of his decisions. With an award-worthy subdued turn from Koji Yakusho bringing a roller-coaster of emotions, as well as Wenders most intimately tender introspective to date, the film is able to overcome the test of patience from its extensive two-hour journey, in turn indulging upon a tasty slice of life that doesn’t always go down smooth or fulfilling.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+